Mentor Text Analysis of op-ed: photo essay – Odalys

Title: “Op-Ed: Photo Essay: The Haunting Cycle of Opportunity and Destruction in the American West” 

Valery Lyman’s op-ed: photo essay hooks the audience in her introduction by utilizing theatre of the mind. Lyman briefly describes the American West by giving details of its current appearance and comparing the urge of abandonment to why it was once a place of pursuit. Research is incorporated in the third paragraph when Lyman states the “new boom towns” that are being pursued for their shale oil and technology. Lyman incorporates a narrative angle by sharing her interest in the American West, followed by the qualities it holds. The text incorporates visuals by using pictures of the abandoned American West, which include stranded gas stations, rusted railroads, collapsed buildings, and tarnish cars. Lyman structures this op-ed: photo essay by introducing the American West and its controversy, followed by why she chose this specific topic, her research, her statement on what she wants to teach the audience, and concludes by using images to support her main idea. The text is a five-minute read consisting of five paragraphs and 18 pictures. Lyman’s primary audience is residents of the American West, like Williston, North Dakota, who have yet to experience this “haunting cycle.” Without a doubt, Lyman’s message is to attract awareness to how these towns are being drained of their goods and left to fence themselves. In the same way, I will mirror Lyman’s outline structure when it comes to using images to deliver my RAB’s message.